VodafoneThree Procurement Lead: Network Engineering

What you’ll do:

Reporting to Senior Procurement Manager: Network Engineering, this role is a highly visible and influential role which will deliver and maintain the Procurement and contract strategy for the Networks requirements across the business.

This role will be responsible for the Networks Procurement spend and strategy for VodafoneThree and requires a commercial and contracts subject matter expert that works closely with their line manager, the Procurement Director, VPC and the Financial Governance Director to provide expert advice and guidance to ELT members and their SLT. They will be required to understand business strategy, technology and market developments and providing creative challenge and thought leadership to influence and support business decision making.

The Procurement function is a centre of excellence to ensure the company achieves its near and long-term business outcomes by planning, selecting, contracting and onboarding the very best suppliers, products and services, optimising the balance of risk, cost, quality and delivery.

The Networks Procurement function will fully align with the Networks team within VodafoneThree to provide end to end support requirements across VodafoneThree.

Key Responsibilities:

• Works up stream to anticipate procurement challenges, ensuring the business is equipped with the right sourcing strategies to deliver the best possible commercial outcomes, ensuring clarity around areas such as risks, routes to market, resource commitments, supply market dynamics, competitive strategies and delivery plans.
• Maintains a suite of clear and current category plans, wholly aligned to business objectives, which identify a pipeline of procurement opportunities.
• Uses internal and external data, relationships and insight to formulate a clear point of view on businessinvestment decisions (e.g. supply market reviews, business case assessments etc), stimulate creative conversations and encourage innovative thinking within the business
• Supports the delivery of a breadth of procurement initiatives, on occasion highly complex and high value, using best in class sourcing solutions such as e-Procurement, e-auctioning, strategic sourcing etc.
• Leads or participates in high-value, complex commercial and contractual negotiations, working with stakeholders and legal to close negotiations with contracts which fully protect VodafoneThree’s commercial and operational risks and interests
• Works, and ensures alignment, with the Procurement, Technology and Strategic Finance Governance and VPC teams to ensure strategic supplier management is considered in all purchase decisions, facilitating the handover into the contract/partner management teams and providing ongoing support and insight to address challenges with incumbent suppliers.
• Ensuring compliance with corporate product, procedural, regulatory, quality, environmental and corporate social responsibility policies
• Interfaces and collaborates with Group companies on related sourcing to maximise VodafoneThree’s leverage in the market place.
• Responsible for leading strategic sourcing initiatives across major spend categories, ensuring the effective use of market intelligence, data analytics, and best-in-class procurement practices to optimise value and mitigate supply chain risks.

Who You Are:

• Experience of senior stakeholder level business partnering.
• Exceptional engagement and relationship building abilities (both internally and externally and, to all seniority levels). Naturally accessible. Able to communicate complex challenges in simple terms
• Strategically minded and creative, able to translate a vision into clear methodical plans with excellent negotiation and problem-solving ability.
• Significant experience of running substantive end-to-end Procurement programmes within blue-chip organisations
• Deep experience and thought leadership on the Procurement basics - contract law, negotiation, market dynamics,commercial strategy, strategic sourcing, supply management.

-

Need to know

We are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and all offers of employment for this role are subject to background checks, including criminal (DBS) and financial checks to meet the regulators standards.

We believe everyone should have the opportunity to interview for a role that matches their skills. In collaboration with our Talent, Diversity & Inclusion teams and our employee-led DEI Networks, we identified a range of reasonable adjustments to help you feel comfortable and perform at your best self during the interview process. If you require any reasonable adjustments or have an accessibility request as part of your recruitment journey, for example, extended time or breaks in between online assessments, a sign language interpreter, or assistive technology, please contact your recruiter directly or email [email protected] for guidance.

We use AI in different parts of our business to boost innovation, improve efficiency, and create new opportunities. We know many candidates use AI to fine-tune their CVs or prepare for interviews, but what we really care about is your unique experiences and achievements.

During the interview, we want you to rely on your own knowledge and skills to show us who you really are—your personality, creativity, and abilities. Above all, we’re looking for authenticity and can’t wait to get to know the real you.

#VodafoneThree